I’ve had some impressive debut novels this month, as well as some great horror. I love the variety in the genre, too. I’ve had some extreme horror, some folklore, small town, slasher movie vibes, and this one falls under the classic 90’s horror film genre.
Thanks to Harper Perennial for the gifted copy in exchange for my honest review
MIDNIGHT ON BEACON STREET – Emily Ruth Verona (Releasing January 30th, 2024)
Book Description:
A suspenseful and entertaining debut thriller—and love letter to vintage horror movies—in which a teenager must overcome her own anxiety to protect the two children she’s babysitting when strangers come knocking at the door.
October 1993. One night. One house. One dead body.
When single mom Eleanor Mazinski goes out a for a much-needed date night, she leaves her two young children —sweet, innocent six-year-old Ben and precocious, defiant twelve-year-old Mira— in the capable hands of their sitter, Amy. The quiet seventeen-year-old is good at looking after children, despite her anxiety disorder. She also loves movies, especially horror flicks. Amy likes their predictability; it calms the panic that threatens to overwhelm her.
The evening starts out normally enough, with games, pizza, and dancing. But as darkness falls, events in this quaint suburban New Jersey house take a terrifying turn —unexpected visitors at the door, mysterious phone calls, and by midnight, little Ben is in the kitchen standing in a pool of blood, with a dead body at his feet.
In this dazzling debut novel, Emily Ruth Verona moves back and forth in time, ratcheting up suspense and tension on every page. Chock-full of nods to classic horror films of the seventies and eighties, Midnight on Beacon Street is a gripping thriller full of electrifying twists and a heartwarming tale of fear and devotion that explores our terrors and the lengths we’ll go to keep our loved ones safe.
My Thoughts: 4/5 stars
Like a lot of other teenagers, I babysat for a few families when I was in middle and high school. You hear the creepy urban legends, but nothing that’ll freak you out enough, but I couldn’t imagine going through the night Amy did.
Much like Amy, I also love horror movies and how soothing and predictable they can be (at least when it comes to the basic formula) and that they can be a nice distraction from everything else going on. Well, her easy night of babysitting is about to turn into her own horror movie.
Unknown people banging on the door, creepy and unsettling phone calls, and to top it off, little six year old Ben standing in a pool of blood with a dead body. While things are told in a way that bounces around from different POVs and two timelines, it was still easy to follow, and the pacing was perfect at building the suspense.
At only 208 pages, there’s a lot to pack in, and I think the author did a good job bringing it all together in the end. There were a couple of parts that felt repetitive but only in one POV. This might be one of the few books that I actually wish was a little longer, so we could get more details on this anxiety enducing night. This book is a nice nod to the horror movies of the 80s and 90s, and after reading Ex-Boogeyman before this, I need more of these in my life.
Jessicamap Reviews 